Pride and Promises ✔

Epilogue

"I want to thank everyone present here for making this day successful. And I also thank everyone who made this possible. We wouldn't been here today if not for your aids in building this brand new branch of Eva's here in Paris. I am honored to have such dedicated and smart people working with me to establish this brand here and I am very thankful for everyone. I want to announce with immense pride that all of these stunning designs from our summer collection were made by my extremely talented sister, Ms. Evangeline White." There were a series of claps as Eva shyly waved from where she was sitting.

I continued. "There's another person I want to thank from the bottom of my heart for making this possible. My husband, Adrian Stone. You've been there with me throughout every step of the way, and more often than not, you've been there as the receiving end of my anger and frustrations. But you still stood by my side and kept me going when I wanted to give up. Thank you so much, darling. I love you." I smiled at the man sitting beside Eva, who was giving me this intense look that made me want to leave this all and take him to the nearest room. His eyes softened at my words and he gave me a heart-stopping smile that made me fall into him deeper than I already was.

"So, this is my hope that Eva's can continue to meet and excel our customers' expectations with this new branch. Now let's take a look at our opening designs. Thank you once again for coming." I smiled and walked away from the dias.

It was the official opening of Eva's branch office in Paris and I was proud of it. Adrian had transferred the company back into my name as soon as he was able to resume his works again. His father had also handed me dad's will. I put Eva's share of money aside and invested mine in some businesses. I didn't want to further expand my company at the moment even though I had the money to do so because I still needed to see how this branch would play out first.

Adrian stood up and pulled out a chair for me as soon as I reached him, pressing a quick kiss on my lips. "You did amazing, love. I'm so proud of you." He murmured against my ear. I could see honesty and pride in his eyes as he smiled at me, making my insides flutter even after all this time. I smiled in thanks and sat down.

Just then, the ramp started and both of us proudly watched the models strut down the runway flaunting Eva's collections. Each of them were met with approval and applause from the spectators.

Finally, Eva walked in with a model and I watched in amazement as everyone stood up for her, applauding. She looked flustered at the attention but quickly composed herself and gave a pretty smile to the audience. She then looked at me and blew a flying kiss my way, making every heads turn to us. I grinned at her and gave her two thumbs up as Adrian did the same.

I had invited Allie and Jake as well, but they had to cancel at the last moment because their one and half year old daughter caught flu all of a sudden. Sneaky Allie had been pregnant before her wedding- a fact I came to know only on the next day. Her little princess Alia- guess who named her- was literally the apple of everyone's eyes. She had the prettiest shade of green eyes and curly brown hair. She was bubbly like her mother. Jake had his handful between her and Allie. I just hoped nothing was serious with little Alia.

Eva came to us as soon as the show was over, hugging me and squealing the whole time. "OhmyGoddd! I can't believe I finally did that! I got to ramp with my own creations! Evie, it was so amazing!" She couldn't contain her happiness and I smiled at her enthusiasm, remembering how she had wished to be able to walk in her own ramp since so long.

"Believe it, because you have certainly done that, and there's still many more to come. Did you see the way everyone stood up just for you? Angel, I'm so proud of you!"

She smiled widely at my words. "Really? Do you really think that they liked my work and didn't just stand because I'm your sister?" She looked a little uncertain now.